Today, Dr. William Hsiao presented to the Vermont legislature a draft proposal for three different health care systems for the state. They include: Option 1 – government-run single payer Option 2 -  public option Option 3 – public/private single-payer (You can find the full report, presentations, and the statement from Hsiao here at the Vermont [...]

The Commonwealth Health Care Reform Implementation Advisory Committee created by out-going Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell recently submitted its report on implementing the new health care law. The committee recommended the state strongly consider covering people making between 133-200% of FPL (Federal Poverty Level) with the optional “Basic Health Plan” program added to the bill by [...]

It appears many of the most important corporate special interest groups in Texas are going to throw a super-awesome party for Gov. Rick Perry and his friends. Via Matt Yglesias from the Dallas News: The Republican governor and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst were the featured attraction Monday night at an invitation-only soiree for donors giving as [...]

How many times have you heard Democrats claim that “this moment” will be the magical opportunity when they convince the American people to like the new health care law? The newest “opportunity” to win the public over is apparently the House Republicans’ push for repeal. From the Hill: “Our biggest failure was that we passed [...]

While the media fervor has subsided around Bradley Manning’s conditions at a Marine brig in Quantico, VA, we all need a reminder that nothing has changed for Bradley. He still spends 23 out of 24 hours alone in his cell in severe isolation, with severe restrictions on his social contact, news consumption, freedom to exercise, and ability to sleep.

That’s why it was encouraging to see the LA Times editorialize last week on Bradley Manning’s conditions, calling his imprisonment “inhumane” and “indefensible.”

[ed. note: This is another post in Firedoglake’s semi-regular series exposing and exploring ways in which the federal government spends vast sums or forsakes vital revenue in a perpetual, profligate and pathetic quest to assure corporate America that the elected representatives of we the people are really, truly, madly, deeply “business friendly.” With each story, [...]

Connecticut is poised to be on the leading progressive edge of what is possible under the new federal health care law by providing a rather robust state-based public option. If the state adopts the proposed SustiNet health plan (PDF) it would integrate the many different group insurance plans the state currently provides into a unified [...]

The first statewide initiative from Edwin and Joyce Koupal’s People’s Lobby to appear on the ballot, the Clean Environment Act, lost by a wide margin. The Koupal’s blamed much of its failure on the huge amount of money the oil and chemical industries were able to spend on the “No” campaign. In a strategic move, [...]

While co-ops were once proposed as a possible alternative to the public option, the idea failed to gain public traction outside of the offices of Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR). Yet, like some sort of legislative vestigial organ, the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP) was never removed from the final [...]

Quinnipiac is out with a new poll that shows a very slight plurality of the nation thinks that entirely eliminating the filibuster is a bad idea rather than a good one. This is still surprisingly strong support for ending the filibuster among the public, given that the position lacks a single prominent champion advocating for [...]